The National Jewish Assembly unhesitatingly condemns multiple student attacks against senior lecturer and respected Jewish author Dr David Hirsh, of Goldsmiths, University of London.
In addition, we wish to assure David Hirsh of our full and unwavering support after he was targeted with slurs of a racist nature.
On March 26th, the President of the Goldsmiths student union, Sara Bafo, tweeted from her #Free Palestine twitter account: “D*vid H*rsh is a far right supremacist”.
David Hirsh is a leading and respected campaigner against antisemitism and all forms of racism. The NJA therefore calls upon Goldsmiths, University of London, to investigate why these attacks are taking place against Dr Hirsh and whether appropriate action should be taken against student leaders.
We note that Goldsmiths UCU (the trade union of the academics) is supporting those behind these smears and that eight USC activists from Goldsmiths signed a petition supporting David Miller, the disgraced academic who was eventually dismissed from Bristol University for antisemitism. Moreover, Goldsmiths refuse to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
Once again, we stand with David Hirsh and will support him in any way against the bigotry he has experienced.
